Improvement in air-pumps



@uiten tetes @anni ffies' DAN lEL CARPENTER, OF PEEKSKILL, YORK.

Letters Patent No. 63,209,7dated .Mai-cli 26, 1867.

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'ro ALL WHoM 1T MAY coNcERN:

Be it known that I, DANIEL CARPENTER, of Peekskill, in the county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented a new and improved Air-Pump; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which vwill enable others skilled .in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to an air-pump of novel construction, which is to be applied for the purpose of creating a vacuum in boxes or vessels which are to be used Ifor preserving meat, vegetables, or any other -article. This invention will prove tobe o f especial value for long journeyson sliips,but also for many other purposes.

The invention consists in such a construction of an airpump-tliat the valve below the piston isopened as so'on,'nearly, as the piston begins to move up, and will be held open-,lunt-il the upward stroke of the piston is finished. The valve will then be instantly closed, and the air contained the pump between the piston and lower valve escapes during t-he downward stroke of the piston throngh'valves arranged in the piston for the pur .P0se. During the upward stroke of the' 'piston the valves in the same'are'f-kpli closed by. their own Weight, as

well as by the pressure of water on top, and by the suction created below. The invention also consists in constructing, together with the air-pump, a box, from lwhich the air is to be withdrawn, the box being madestrong enough to bear the pressure of the atmosphere while avacuum is produced in theinside. In the accompanying drawing my inyention is illustrated- Figure 1 being a side view, partly in section, of my improved air-pump.

Figure 2 is a front view, partly in section, of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved box and Figure 4 is a plan or top view of the same. v

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts. p

A lis the ypump cylinder, made substantially as usual, and supported by a cylinder, B, to which it is secured by means of bolts a a. The cylinder B ,isliirmly' secured to a lbed-plate, C, or to the floor of the chamber in which the machine is set up. A perforated false bottom, D, is arranged between the cylinders A and B, which serves as aguide for the stem b of the valve This valve E rests upon the plate AD andfeifectually closes the holes in the saine. The piston Fils also perforated with tapering holes, which areV closed by conical plugs c, which are arranged on an annular plate, d, sliding on the piston-rod e. The valve E is covered completely with rubber, and the lowerv surface ofithe piston F is recessed so as to t exactly over the valve when down. f is the pipe which connects the lower cylinder B with'the box Gr from which the airis to be removed. gis an eccentric-pin on a horizontal shaft, r., whereby the valve E is raised or lowered by oscillating'the shaft h,

- The operation of the pump is as follows:

.Before commencing the piston is down and the valveE also, the'piston iittingclosely over the valve.'

Water, or some other fluid, is placed into the'pump -A to keep the joints tight andto prevent the escape oftair in a wrong direction or through wrong channels. The piston is then raised by steam or hand power,

by any suitable mechanical device; andas soon asthe piston has begun to moveupward, Athe valve E will, by some device'on the outside, hereinafter to be described, be raised from its seat D. The airis non' expanded by the action of the piston and fills the cylinder Abelow the piston. As soon as (or nearly so) the piston is at the highest point the valve is closed also by some mechanism on the outside, hereinafter described, and then the air between thevalve and piston can be expelled. The piston moves down again, and as soon ns the air below is compressed enough that it will press stronger against the lower ends of th'e plugsA c than the weight of the water and atmosphere on top, the ring d and plugs c will be raised and thcair between E and F will esca-pe through-the said vtapering holesv in F. The valve E, being covered with rubber or-any other elastic. material, the concussion that would otherwise occur whenever the piston strikes' the valve, isprovent'edf The chamber below the lower valve answers two purposes: iirst, to allow the pin g and stem to move therein; and, second, it forms a receptacle for the water or other liquid used on the' piston when in operation. The pipe f, which connect-s theA pump with the box Gr, is secured to the upper end of the chamber B, so that the water that works through the valve while the same is being opened or closed, falls by its owngravity into thechamber B, land does not obstruct the free passage of the air through the pipe f. l

I will now proceed to describe the mechanism whereby the valve E is automatically opened or closed' during the upward stroke of the piston. The piston-rod c is either operated by or connected with an oscillating lever, z', which is pivotedto an arm, z", which projects from or above the cylinder A, as shown in tig. 1'. l Qn the other side-of` the pivotingpoint is, by means of a pivot secured to the lever z', a vertical rod, lK, which by this arrange. ment' moves down when the piston-rod .goes up, and vice versa. i Thelower end of the rod K is secured to a slide, l, which moves up and down alongside of a slotted upright post m, by which it is gnided, and which is stationary on the machine. To the lower end of the slide Z is pivoted another baryn, to which an elbow arm, n', is pivoted, as shown in fig. 2; The horizontal shaft h, to which the pin gis attached, for raising and lowering'the valve E, extends through vthe side of the cylinder B, being guided in appropriate stufllng-boxes. .To its outer end is secured an arm, o, which extends tothe bar n so that its end is slightly below th'e arm n when the piston is down. The arm n is held in'the position shown in iig. 2, by a. spring, p. -As soon as the piston is raised the bar n will descend and thelower edge of the arm n will press upon the end of the arm o, thereby turning the shaft h andopening vthe valve. When pressed down a certain distance the arm o passes over the end of .aspring catch, g, which projects beyond the upright m, and which prevents the valve `from closing.' The arm n' is thrown off the arm o by an incline, 7', which comes in contact with the rear end of n and throws the front end back. The arm o is now released from n', lbut is still held down (and the valve open) bythe catch q, so that the piston may continue to rise and the valve be kept open at the same time. .When the' piston is almost 11p, acam, S,

ou the slide l, strikes the rear end of the spring catch q and thereby moves its front end back, releasing the arm o. The latter is then instantaneously moved up (and the valve closed) bymeans of -a spiralsprinfg, t, shown' in fig. 2. Thus it is seen that as soon as the piston rises the valve E will beopened and kept open untilthe piston is at its highest point, when the valve will instantaneously close, so that the air contained in the cylinder A may be lremoved-through the valves cc' as the pistondescends. `The box G, from which the air is to be removed,

is to be of the strongest and mostsubstantial construction. It is made of sheet metal or'of any other suitable material, and is well braced on the inside -by square framing H'and by diagonal braces I, and also by combined diagonal and upright metal braces K, as shown in gs. 2 and-3.V The lidu is firmly s ecured and cannot be removed. The only opening to the box is a small hole in the lid, which is covered by a plate, V, the latter being firmly held in place by means of. bolts orl screws u, as shown in figs. 3 and 4. The boi: may either be permanently' secured to the pump or it may be removable, as may be desired.

,What I claim as'new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

V1. I claim. the mechanism, herein shown and described, of operating the valve E automatically by the same power which operates the piston, so that the valve is opened and closed and the piston raised and lowered, sub- 'srtantially in the manner herein set forth.

' 2. I claim the piston F and valve E when so constructed that the piston its perfectly over the valve, so that all the air is completely forced out of the cylinder Aat each stroke of the piston, through the valves c c. substantiallyas herein shown and described.

3.. I claim the. perforated piston F in combination with the ring d and `conical plugs c c, all made' and operating substantially as herein shown and described.

4. I claim the arrangement, in -thc chamber B below the valve E, ofthe valve-operating parts, substantially as and for the purposes herein shown andvdescribed. l,

5,. I claim the box G when constructed as herein shown and described, and when provided with braces H I and K, all made as set forth, in combination with the pipe f and air-pump A B, the `latter being made and operating substantially asl-herein shown andpdescribed.

' DANIEL CARPENTER. y

Witnesses:

SIEPHEN Leur, JAMES DENIKE. 

